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James, Cavaliers begin five-game road trip vs. Pacers

Mar 27, 2007 - 12:55 PM Cleveland (42-28) at Indiana (31-38) 7:00 pm EDT

INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Just a few weeks ago the Cleveland Cavaliers were moving closer to the top spot in the Eastern Conference. But they have hit a bump in the road.

The Cavaliers will try to get back on track Tuesday when they open of a five-game road trip against the Indiana Pacers.

Cleveland was riding a season-high eight-game winning streak and pulled within 1 1/2 games of the first-place Detroit Pistons. However, the Cavaliers have lost three of their last four games, including Sunday's 105-93 setback to Denver, to fall three behind Detroit (45-25) in the East with 12 contests remaining.

Cleveland is just 15-18 away from home this season and has dropped eight of its last nine visits to Conseco Fieldhouse.

Indiana has just two wins in its last 16 outings, but is still just one-half game behind eighth-place New Jersey (32-38) in the Eastern Conference race. Orlando (33-38) is seventh overall.

The Pacers suffered a 92-90 setback to the Chicago Bulls on Sunday despite 39 points and 14 rebounds from All-Star Jermaine O'Neal.

"Every loss hurts," O'Neal said. "We have 13 or 14 games left. Every night we lose, we put ourselves a little bit deeper in the hole."